CTBS Tissue Recovery 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following is the MOST appropriate response if a tissue recovery technician suspects a donor may have died from a homicide?
- Proceed with recovery as planned
- Notify the medical examiner and obtain necessary authorization before proceeding (Correct answer)
- Contact the next of kin for additional consent
- Cancel the recovery immediately without documentation
Correct answer: Notify the medical examiner and obtain necessary authorization before proceeding
In cases of suspected homicide, the medical examiner must be notified and must authorize tissue recovery to avoid interfering with forensic evidence.
Question 2: What information must be included on the label of a tissue allograft at the time of recovery packaging?
- Donor name and social security number
- Unique donor identification number, tissue type, and recovery date (Correct answer)
- Next-of-kin contact information
- Transplanting surgeon's name and hospital
Correct answer: Unique donor identification number, tissue type, and recovery date
Recovery packaging labels must include the unique donor identification number, tissue type, and recovery date to ensure traceability per FDA regulations.
Question 3: A donor with a history of receiving cadaveric dura mater grafts is being evaluated for tissue recovery. What is the appropriate action?
- Proceed with all standard recoveries
- Restrict to cornea donation only
- Exclude the donor entirely due to CJD risk (Correct answer)
- Obtain additional neurological history and consult medical director
Correct answer: Exclude the donor entirely due to CJD risk
Recipients of cadaveric dura mater grafts are at increased risk for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and are excluded from tissue donation.
Question 4: How should a tissue recovery technician handle a situation where the donor's serology results are not available prior to recovery?
- Wait indefinitely until all results are available
- Proceed with recovery using universal precautions and quarantine tissue pending results (Correct answer)
- Discard the donor case
- Proceed only if next of kin confirms no infectious disease history
Correct answer: Proceed with recovery using universal precautions and quarantine tissue pending results
Recovery may proceed under universal precautions with tissue quarantined until all required serological and NAT testing results are received and reviewed.
Question 5: Which of the following BEST describes 'cold ischemia time' in the context of tissue recovery?
- Time from asystole to when the body is refrigerated
- Time from refrigeration or cooling of the donor body to recovery of tissue (Correct answer)
- Time tissue spends frozen during cryopreservation
- Time from recovery to transplant into the recipient
Correct answer: Time from refrigeration or cooling of the donor body to recovery of tissue
Cold ischemia time refers to the period during which donor tissue is at cold temperatures (refrigerated) from the time the body is cooled until tissue is recovered.
Question 6: Why is it important to document the exact anatomical location of each tissue recovered during procurement?
- To calculate donor compensation
- To ensure accurate allograft labeling and appropriate clinical use by surgeons (Correct answer)
- To determine funeral home preparation requirements
- To complete insurance reimbursement forms
Correct answer: To ensure accurate allograft labeling and appropriate clinical use by surgeons
Accurate anatomical documentation ensures that each tissue allograft is correctly labeled and matched to its appropriate clinical application, supporting safe transplantation.
Question 7: Which of the following scenarios would MOST likely require the recovery team to obtain approval from a medical examiner before proceeding?
- Donor died in a nursing home of natural causes
- Donor died in a motor vehicle accident (Correct answer)
- Donor died of documented metastatic cancer
- Donor died following a lengthy inpatient hospitalization
Correct answer: Donor died in a motor vehicle accident
Deaths resulting from accidents such as motor vehicle crashes typically fall under medical examiner jurisdiction and require their authorization before tissue recovery.
CTBS Tissue Recovery 5
Which of the following is the MOST appropriate response if a tissue recovery technician suspects a donor may have died from a homicide?